"This book is one of my favorite Sandra Owens books ever, and that is saying something because I have enjoyed all of her books. Ms. Owens just has a way of making me believe in happily ever after. This book deals with some really serious and heartbreaking topics, but it has a ton of humor, laced through it that, coupled with the heat and fantastic story make the serious things not feel so heavy. " - Heather, Goodreads
Description:
Release Date: June 27th, 2018
The small mountain town of Blue Ridge Valley is the home of three best friends, Jenny, Autumn, and Savannah. Each woman believes she has her life perfectly planned, but there is a saying in the mountains… If everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
In Just Jenny, Jenny Nance has a plan—save enough money to tour the world. The desire to traipse the globe is a dream she once shared with her twin sister. Jenny made a deathbed promise to her sister that she would go to all the places they had fantasized visiting together. Nothing will entice her to break her vow to Natalie, not even the sexy new Blue Ridge Valley police chief . . . No matter how attracted she is to him.
Dylan Conrad left the Chicago Police Department to accept the position as Chief of Police in Blue Ridge Valley. Burned out and haunted by a tragedy of his own, he needs to get away from the memories tormenting him. He’s hoping to find peace in the small mountain town, but the quirky residents, an infamous moonshiner, an errant prized bull, and a feisty redhead by the name of Jenny weren’t quite what he had in mind.
EXCERPT
At first I didn’t see Dylan when I walked into the lounge, but then he stood and smiled, waving me over to a booth. Mercy, that man’s smile slayed me every time.
“Hey,” he said when I reached him.
“Hey back.” I slid onto the leather seat across from him. A full bottle of Green Man beer sat on the table, so I guessed he hadn’t been waiting long.
“What would you like?”
“Same as you.” I wasn’t a big drinker, sometimes a glass of wine or a beer. Much more than that, I’d be dancing on the table. Instead of waiting for a waitress, he went to the bar and got my beer.
“Thanks,” I said when he slid it over to me. He lifted his bottle, holding it toward me. I picked mine up and clinked it against his. “To my new friend.”
He grinned. “To the possibility of more than a friend?”
Now he had me confused. Weren’t we just supposed to be having a pretend relationship? Be seen together a few times so that Chad got the message? Not that I wasn’t interested in more, but I had no clue where Dylan was coming from. Maybe he was only flirting and didn’t mean anything by the question.
“Well, you did ask me to be your pretend girlfriend.” If I wasn’t mistaken, he seemed disappointed in my answer.
“That I did.”
There was something about this man that made me feel all marshmallowy inside. What I really wanted was someone to have fun with until it was time to go see the world, and I suddenly wanted that someone to be Dylan. Only one way to find out if he was interested.
“Okay, let’s back up a minute. I’m just a small-town mountain girl, easily confused. Exactly what did you mean when you said, ‘To the possibility of more than a friend?’ I think I understand…well kind of, but maybe you should clarify things for me.”
He studied me a moment and then smiled, and God help me, I smiled right back at him. Because that oh so charming boyish expression on his face was impossible to resist. Honestly I was finding everything about him irresistible.
“I don’t think you’re confused at all, Red,” he softly said. “Tell me you don’t feel the attraction between us.”
I refused to say a word, which seemed to amuse him.
“Your silence answers my question. Do you have a leave date for your world tour?”
I nodded, wondering where he was going with this. “Mid-December.”
“So about two months.” He reached across the table and covered my hand with his. “Proposition. Spend that time with me. Teach me about your town and the people, and we’ll see how it goes from there.”
He meant sex eventually. I think. Maybe I was putting the cart before the horse, but I wanted to make sure there was no misunderstanding. “I guess this is where I should say that I don’t jump into bed with the first guy that comes along.” That just wasn’t me.
“Meaning me?”
I nodded. As much as Dylan intrigued me—and I was pretty sure it would happen, hoped it would—I wanted to feel comfortable with it, with him.
“Okay, I can respect that. How do you want to go about this?”
This conversation was definitely odd. “Um, I don’t know. I’ve never negotiated a temporary fling before.” But it was kind of fun.
He grinned. “That makes two of us. Tell me how you’d like to go forward from here.”
I liked that he was asking, letting me do this at my comfort level. “Basically I want to get to know you better, for you to know me.”
“Anything else?”
“Only that you don’t push me before I’m ready.”
“To the first, that’s a fair request, and to the second…” He stared at his beer bottle as he traced the lip with his finger, then he raised his eyes to mine. “I don’t make love to a woman unless she wants it, too.”
I believed him. And the way he looked at me when he said that last part, heat flaming in his eyes, sent a shiver through me that started somewhere near my chest and went all the way down to my toes.
“So how was work?” He leaned back and stretched his arms along the back of the booth, then about charmed my panties off with that killer smile. “This is me getting to know you better.”
I blinked at the sudden change in our conversation. The man was constantly surprising me. I liked that. A lot.
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About the author:
A best selling, award winning author, Sandra Owens lives in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Her family and friends often question her sanity, but have ceased being surprised by what she might get up to next. She’s jumped out of a plane, flown in an aerobatic plane while the pilot performed death-defying stunts, has flown Air Combat (two fighter planes dogfighting, pretending to shoot at each other with laser guns), and rode a Harley motorcycle for years. She regrets nothing.
A member of Romance Writers of America's Honor Roll, Sandra is a 2013 Golden Heart® Finalist for her contemporary romance, CRAZY FOR HER. In addition to her contemporary romantic suspense novels, she writes Regency stories.
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4 comments:
Thank you so much!
This sounds like a book I'd really enjoy reading, thank you for sharing!
This isn't a book I would typically read but I must admit that it looks like a nice cozy fall read maybe. Cold night with a blanket and hot chocolate?
Maranda H.
I just loved your excerpt and I would love to read your book.
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